Uploaded January 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this video I show one possible way to storyboard in OpenToonz, using the new Text Effect to more easily add text and on-screen descriptions and notes. Storyboards are really useful to help organise your thoughts for your film, so the easier you can put them together, the more likely that you'll use them. Use this as a starting point for building storyboards for your own films and share your preferred/better layout with the rest of the community at the OpenToonz discord, link below.
Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:43 Why are storyboards useful?
02:15 My 'Storyboard' room layout in OpenToonz
02:54 Adding the default columns
05:55 Setting up a drawing default
06:24 Drawing the boards
07:26 Adding dialog and notes using a Notes column
7:48 Talking through the boards drawn so far, inc fixing single quote issue
09:11 Adding a scene break & moving keys on the xsheet
10:32 Inserting a board between 2 boards
12:24 Sharing your storyboard: By sharing the OpenToonz project, exporting a video, exporting separate frames or...
13:30 Exporting a single image with all boards in (a spritesheet) in a grid, horizontally, vertically or separately
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you liked what you saw and want to help out, you can buy me a coffee or a Darren Tea ;-)
buymeacoffee.com/DarrenT
Check out useful OpenToonz-companion software you can download or purchase:
gumroad.com/DarrenTAnims
The kit I use and recommendations of useful books:
kit.co/DarrenT
--------------------------------------------------------------
Discord: discord.gg/FYy4Mg7
For help setting up and using OpenToonz, chat with animators & developers and enter animation challenges.
Twitter: twitter.com/DarrenTAnims
Facebook: fb.me/DarrenTAnims
Twitch: twitch.tv/DarrenTAnims
More about me: youtube.com/c/DarrenTAnims/about
outro music courtesy of Voltaire: youtube.com/user/VoltaireMusicPage
In this video I show one possible way to storyboard in OpenToonz, using the new Text Effect to more easily add text and on-screen descriptions and notes. Storyboards are really useful to help organise your thoughts for your film, so the easier you can put them together, the more likely that you'll use them. Use this as a starting point for building storyboards for your own films and share your preferred/better layout with the rest of the community at the OpenToonz discord, link below.
Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:43 Why are storyboards useful?
02:15 My 'Storyboard' room layout in OpenToonz
02:54 Adding the default columns
05:55 Setting up a drawing default
06:24 Drawing the boards
07:26 Adding dialog and notes using a Notes column
7:48 Talking through the boards drawn so far, inc fixing single quote issue
09:11 Adding a scene break & moving keys on the xsheet
10:32 Inserting a board between 2 boards
12:24 Sharing your storyboard: By sharing the OpenToonz project, exporting a video, exporting separate frames or...
13:30 Exporting a single image with all boards in (a spritesheet) in a grid, horizontally, vertically or separately
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you liked what you saw and want to help out, you can buy me a coffee or a Darren Tea ;-)
buymeacoffee.com/DarrenT
Check out useful OpenToonz-companion software you can download or purchase:
gumroad.com/DarrenTAnims
The kit I use and recommendations of useful books:
kit.co/DarrenT
--------------------------------------------------------------
Discord: discord.gg/FYy4Mg7
For help setting up and using OpenToonz, chat with animators & developers and enter animation challenges.
Twitter: twitter.com/DarrenTAnims
Facebook: fb.me/DarrenTAnims
Twitch: twitch.tv/DarrenTAnims
More about me: youtube.com/c/DarrenTAnims/about
outro music courtesy of Voltaire: youtube.com/user/VoltaireMusicPage
